The best gift of all!

Shattered dreams.
Broken hearts.
Failed relationships.
Loss a loved one.
Loss of a job.
Financial difficulties.
Loneliness.
Failing health.
Fear of the future/unknown.

It's the holiday season. Everyone is running around, insanely busy shopping for the 'perfect' gifts, trying to prepare elaborate spreads of food, picking out the perfect outfits to wear to all of the parties to go to, etc, etc....
If you're like me, you have endless lists of things to do, things to buy, things to pick up, places to stop, parties to attend, food to make, estimates of how much it will all cost, so on....

As the song goes, It's the most wonderful time of the year!! But at the same time, it can be the most painful and difficult time of the year for many. Everything that you are dealing with seems to be magnified at this time of year. Pain is intensified. The hurt and loss feels almost unbearable, and every Christmas song you hear, every tree and ornament you see, just feels like a knife is being driven in deeper and deeper into your heart. You may even have come to the point of hating this time of year.

You know a ton of people, and want to buy nice personalized gifts for everyone, but financially, you just can't. Due to a loss of a job or financial hardships, you may not be able to do anything this year, that alone can cause feelings of embarrassment and guilt.
Someone that you're used to having around year after year, is no longer with you either due to death or broken relationships/friendships.
Another year has gone by, and that dream or goal that you had, is either shattered or no where near to being accomplished, and the vision is lost.
You may be single and the thought of spending the another holiday season alone, being surrounded by happy loving couples makes you dread even leaving the house.
That thing that you thought for sure would have come to pass by this year, just hasn't. And you're wondering just how much longer you can hold on and wait.
You're health is failing and the things you used to be able to do, you can longer do.
A piece of your heart may be thousands of miles away serving in a seemingly never ending war.

Whatever it is that you're struggling with this year, whatever is causing you pain, you know what it is and these are just a few possible scenarios.
Ironically, this same time of year that brings out all of your hurts and struggles, is the same time that offers the Answer to all of your hurts and struggles. I'm talking about the real meaning of Christmas, the real reason we celebrate this time of year. The God of this universe, the God who created you and I in His perfect image, sent his one and only son Jesus, born of the virgin Mary, to this earth for YOU over two thousand years ago. The world is trying harder and harder to push Christ out of the holiday and it is no longer 'politically correct' to say Merry Christmas. But without Christ, we wouldn't have anything to celebrate, and more importantly, without Christ our lives are empty and meaningless.

I am asking you to receive this amazing gift that God is offering to you for FREE! Jesus wants to heal your broken heart and bind up your wounds. He wants to provide for your each and every need that you have. He wants to heal your sickness and disease. He wants to fill that emptiness and void that you feel inside. He wants to restore broken marriages. He wants to give you a NEW dream and a NEW vision. He wants to be your everything, and your reason that you wake up every morning.
Not only does He want to do all this for you, but He is willing and ABLE to do all of that and WAY more. There is nothing that is impossible with God!
He is just waiting for you to accept Him in your heart as Lord and savior and to surrender your life to Him. God loves you so much and desires to be in close relationship with YOU! Yes, the God of this universe that holds time in His hands, wants nothing more then to be in close relationship with you, and to be involved in every single small detail of your life.

So won't you accept this free gift? I did, a little over a year ago and my life has never been the same. Just ask me, and I'd be glad to share my story, and The Story with you.

Merry Christmas
NOT
Happy Holidays

Trans-Siberian Orchestra 12/7/08

PLEASE WATCH WITH VOLUME UP HIGH!!

This was taken by Ang last night in her apartment. There was a spider on her ceiling and it looked like you'd die if you were bit by it. So me and all of my brilliance, decided to use a broom end to kill it, while standing DIRECTLY underneath.

Please note how fast, and how far I ran away. It totally dropped down from the ceiling from a web. I've watched this video at least 40 times today, and it as just as funny as the first time watching it. I urge you to watch it a few times to get the full effect.

Ang's 27th Birthday Party

Ang: Wow Freddie, I didn't realize you were that tall!!
Freddie: Yeah, I don't feel self conscious now, thanks.

The Three Hottest Amiga's ever!

Everyone, minus Dan, cause he's taking the pic

Caters and I

Very upsetting morning.....

There really IS such thing as a Liger, as I found out this morning.
I am extremely disappointed!
I truly thought that was just a Napoleon Dynamite thing, and that he made it up. I think for my own sanity, I'm going to continue to believe that Napoleon made it up in the movie, and then scientists from around the world decided to take it on as an experimental project, and it was successful, and this is the result:





That being said, he's very cute and cuddly and I want one.

Satey Conquers Taft Furniture

This was without a doubt the REDDEST furniture set that I have ever seen. While sitting on it, Cate looked over and asked, "Are you getting mad sitting on that?".
I was pondering whether or not I was mad. Nope. Wasn't.

I was trying to look reflective and contemplative.
Way too many finger to mouth shots however.

This is the winner BY FAR.

This couch was the most hideous thing I've ever seen. They actually put this on their showroom floor?

But what makes this the winner, is that it wasn't only hideous, but it was tiny.

Cate yelled out, "What is this, a couch for little people?"

(yes, my friends, she said little people)

The sales guy came over, tried to act sophisticated, professional, and with attitude said, "No! This is what we call apartment series furniture for space saving."

Well sir, whatever it is you want to call it......we couldn't miss a photo opp of 5'10'' Caters sitting on it, making it look even tinier.

was trying to get a new eye shot.....

Rocked my vote....

She's Arrived! 10/17/08

2,568 lbs, 6 oz

145.6 inches

2009 MINI Cooper

Nightfire Red

Name: To be determined

real pics soon to come!

Mohonk Mountain, New Paltz NY

T&A conquer Mohonk Mountain!!
Do I not look like Helga, the German backpacker??

T&A
Didn't quite know what to expect. So I wore all of my hiking gear. Get out of the car, and everyone around has on jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers. I looked like I was the covergirl for Backpacker magazine. I did however, leave my headlamp at home. And my space blanket. And lighter. And....... God paints the most beautiful pictures!!

This place was beautiful and the scenery was amazing. There were 2 challenging parts, where Angela did an awesome job being my guide and telling me how to get up...because I would have just stood there not knowing what to do.

It was just Ang and I, and it was such a blessing to spend the day with her.

www.mohonk.com

I'm falling apart, I'm barely breathing

with a broken heart that's still beating

In the pain is there is healing

In Your name I find meaning

So I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on

I'm barely holdin' on to You

I'm hangin' on another day

Just to see what You will throw my way

And I'm hanging on to the words You say

You said that I will be ok

The broken lights on the freeway left me here alone

I may have lost my way now,

But I haven't forgotten my way home

I got this in the mail today from InTouch Ministries, written by Pastor Charles Stanley, and it nailed my heart. I wanted to share.

All it takes is one devastating phone call and your life is changed forever. The doctor's report is grim. The investment you've made has resulted in your financial hardship or ruin. Your loved one has been taken from you. You've been betrayed by someone you trusted. The next thing you know, you're trying to make sense of this terrible situation and wondering if you'll survive it.

Let me ask you- has this happened to you? Have you been sent staggering down the path of adversity by some unwelcome news or disappointment? Are you wondering why God would allow this pain and suffering in your life? If so, then you have a crucial decision to make. You can either blame the Lord or trust Him. You can either allow this trial to defeat you or have faith in God to help you triumph over your circumstances.

We all deal with seasons of hardship and sorrow. Those times will come and go as long as we live on earth. However I believe that if we understand the Father's purpose for allowing these trials, then we can face the most difficult circumstances without being completely and irreversibly devastated. Our troubles may discourage us at the moment the occur, but when we respond to them in the right way-realizing that the Lord is in complete control of our life-we are able to move forward with the faith and courage to endure.

So what is God's purpose in adversity? First Peter 1:6-7 tells us, "You have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious then gold which is perishable, even though tested by first, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." In other words, when the Lord allows trouble to enter our life it is because He is working on our faith. This is demonstrated in two ways.

First, God builds your faith through trials to transform you into the likeness of His son. Peter instructs, "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in the all your behavior." (1 Peter 1:14-15) This does not mean you resemble Jesus physically; rather, it means that your personality, character, conduct, and conversation are like His.

It requires faith to be holy. It takes great trust in Him to make a godly decision when the right choice is difficult and even unpopular. But that's what the Lord will do in you through adversity. He builds the likeness of Christ in you- including courage that sustained Him as He faced the cross and unwavering assurance in His resurrection power. (Eph. 1:18-21)

Second, God builds your faith through trials so you will be equipped to fulfill His purpose for your life. Remember, your intimate relationship with Him is His highest priority for you, and it determines the impact you have for His kingdom. The hardship you and I face can deepen our relationship with the Lord. If you will allow Him, our heavenly Father can teach you and listen to, walk with, and obey Him with full confidence through any situation or circumstance.

Isaiah explained that it is through adversity that the Father reveals Himself as His plans to you. "Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you, 'This is the way, walk in it,' whenever you turn to the right or the left." (Isaiah 30:20-21)

Untried faith is unreliable faith-you don't know how devoted you are to God until you're tested. Do you trust Him to supply your needs? Do you believe that He will empower you to fulfill what He has called you to do? Do you know how to rely upon Him for every necessity? These are questions that must be answered if you wish to have a growing, intimate relationship with the Lord and serve Him faithfully.

My friends I want to challenge you today. Trust the Lord your God. Tell him, "Thank You, Father, for loving me enough to trust me with every heartache or loss. Teach me to be more like Jesus and equip me to follow Your plans for my life." And also ways remember that the dark moments of your life will last only so long as is necessary for God to accomplish His purpose in you. May the Lord bless, comfort, and encourage you as you walk through difficult times and serve Him in love and obedience.

Charles Stanley

can I get an amen?

Aww I love friends.....

Me:
Thanks for bringing me in tea, thanks for thinking of me!!
(I'm home sick but he brought me in sore throat tea to work)

Freddie:
oh...i wasn't thinking of you....i accidentally brought them in...and when i walked by your cube, I tripped and they came flying out of my hand and landed on your desk. I didn't feel like getting them, so I just left them there. Trust me...i didn't think of u at all...u didn't even cross my mind...I don't even like u that much.
ear hurts? def keep doing that Nettie pot....it's supposed to be great for ear/throat stuff...or take a paper clip, straighten it out, and put it in your ear as hard as fast as you can...

Justin's Birthday

Me and my girls Me and Sara's underwear.....it's the new style

BMW Ultimate Drive, Glenmont NY to Maine

My 650i Coupe Me and my 650
Brittany and I near MY 650
All the white BMWs lined up at a rest stop. (that's me parked opposite way)
Uhh...me and my 650 lol

So out of the 650i Coupe, the X6, and the 135i (I drove all 3 of them, we all switched)............
the best handling, performance, and fun, believe it or not....
The winner is:
135i
Amazing car.

Anyone who knows the Zakrzewski's, knows that we are SERIOUS about food. At any given party, it's extremely easy to find us all; just look for the food table and there we are gathered around it. Most people go around conversing, mingling, catching up with people....but no. Not us. We're standing around stuffing our faces.

Over the years I've come to conclude that we all get it from our father, who grew up with a 100% Italian mother, straight from Italy. If anyone knows about old school Italians, you'll understand exactly what I'm talking about. He finds his fulfillment in life cooking and feeding people. It brings him great joy. And he will make sure you eat until you're ready to puke. And he gets mad if you don't eat a lot. Almost offended.

My brother Mark has been in NYC for the past three days for work. Multiple times daily he text messaged me about these rolls, and how amazing they were. He couldn't wait every day for them to come out because he couldn't wait to eat them. After about 400 text messages about these stupid rolls, my only response of course, was to begin making fun of him. But of course, it was only out of love.....and well......jealousy because I wanted to try one.

So this morning, he's back in work and I asked him for a description of these rolls, and I can't say I was prepared for what I was about to receive.
Well, here it is:

Delicious Rolls:
They are about the size of an open hand and about 3-4 inches high. They
weigh about as much as a small office tape dispenser with a somewhat
crispy, light brown topping.
The consistency inside is like Play-Dough, heavy, warm, but fluffy. They
must use an egg bath for the top; you can see the excess drippings on
the bottom after they have been cooked.
The rolls are heavily flowered, there is a whit powdery resemblance on
the entire roll, but you can't taste it. They must be stone cooked, in
a kiln, because the bottom has that texture that an oven cooked roll can
not produce.
The sides are split but the roll is much intact. When opened up the
dough immediately becomes heavy when you pull out the inside, this I can
only imagine is due to the fact the warm dough is mixing with the cool
air, so it has a real dense consistency.
There is a distinct flavor to these rolls, almost like they use Vanilla
Extract in them or something similar. The flavor is NOT your standard
bread flavor. Maybe it's special yeast or something, but is definitely
distinct.

Mark, you make me proud!!!

Amazing Photo Op....

I will post more pictures from the AMAZING BMW drive today....but this one, is particularly noteworthy and truly called for immediate attention.

This is one of my favorite sites to grab hold of in life:

A group of men standing around the engine of a car. (happens to be the BMW B7 Alpina). I REALLY can't help but to wonder if any of them really know what they are looking at OR what they are talking about. It's HIGHLY amusing.

So me, being me....had to be all up in the middle of this. I too, stood in this group, right in the middle. And I got to listen to them all talk. I may have thrown in a word or two, myself.

Let me end this by saying this.......115 mph in a 80k car.............the bar has been raised, in my book, regarding the definition of 'fun'. Nothing will compare to this for a WHILE....

EXHILARATING!

650i Coupe

They just called about the BMW drive tomorrow. I got the 650i Coupe baby!!

MAINE IN A BMW THIS FRIDAY!!

Background:
Join us for our 12th year in the battle against breast cancer with our partner, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Just get behind the wheel of a new vehicle of your choice in the BMW Ultimate Drive® supporting Susan G. Komen for the Cure event. As a participant, you'll find plenty of BMW models to test drive, such as the thrilling 3 Series Coupe, the sporty X3 SAV® and this year's Signature Vehicle, the new and dynamic X6. For every mile you drive BMW will donate $1 on your behalf to Komen. Since the program's inception in 1997, the event has raised over $11 million dollars for breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment programs. In 2008 you can continue to make a difference by taking a test drive to help us reach our goal: donating a grand total of $12 million.

So.....normally people drive these vehicles from dealership to dealership across the USA. Usually it's a short drive. This year, Capital City Imports BMW needed people from their dealership (Glenmont, NY), to WESTBROOK, MAINE!!! As you can imagine, I was the first person that signed up!! It is this Friday, so I took the day off weeks ago as soon as I found out about this. Today, we got the agenda.

Meet at Capital Cities at 7:30 am
They provide us with a free breakfast, we sign paper work and all that stuff, then a fleet of 22 of us BMWs are taking off to MAINE!!! I'm driving a brand new 2009 BMW for 5 hours!
Somewhere in between, we're all stopping and some company is providing us all with a lunch.
Once we get to Maine, a bus is going to be taking us back to Capital Cities.

So......an entirely FREE road trip.....AND I get to drive a brand new BMW.....AND it's for a good cause.
OOps, I think I have my priorities backwards on that one??

Anyway.....I cannot wait. I can't wait to see which car I get!! I signed up for the M6, followed by the M5, followed by the M3....completely unaware that they aren't using those cars. LOL
OOoops....Oh well, anything I get will be perfect!
Coastal highway baby......I'm praying I get a convertible!

There will be lots of pictures of this one.

Can somebody please wake me up when September ends?

The reason I should never be left alone:

my text message to Ang:
Ang, if it's pouring out tonight are you still going to go to the bonfire?

Ang:
Um, deary?

my heart is Yours

You won't relent until You have it all

my heart is Yours

I'll set You as a seal upon my heart

as a seal upon my arm

for there is love that is as strong as death

jealousy demanding as the grave

many waters cannot quench this love

come be the fire inside of me

come be the flame upon my heart

come be the fire inside of me

until You and I are one

My Prayer.......

all those people going somewhere
why have I never cared?
give me Your eyes for just one second
give me Your eyes so I can see
everything that I keep missing
give me Your love for humanity
give me Your arms for the broken hearted
the ones that are far beyond my reach
give me Your heart for the ones forgotten
give me Your eyes so I can see

Lord, give me Your eyes!

36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Matthew 9:36

Guess what?

I picked out my new car!
Anyone wanna guess????
:)

Uhh...???

This picture was from last week. Jodi, my wonderful co-worker/friend actually went outside like this. She had both pair of shoes underneath her desk and happened to have one of each different one on, and totally unknowing it, went outside to put quarters in the parking meter.

That's HOT!!!

T & A strike again

I would have to say that well over half of my summer wardrobe is compliments of Angela. This is the latest shirt she had given me on Friday. I sent her a picture text this morning from work to show her that I was wearing it and........

This is the picture she sent right back!
Except she looks way hotter then I do.....and I have a cord hanging down. haha
Same shirt, and apparently we were both wearing white tanks underneath.

Great text message.....

"so I was walkin outta walmart and this woman yells, "Stupid idiot" so I look at her and she goes, "not you...me"...the best part is I yelled back...its ok..I am 2..she was the walmart greeter."

~Angela

I'm thinking......

of quiting work and becoming a Sherpa.
Any thoughts, opinions, comments??

I mean seriously....how hard can it be to acclimate to 29,029 feet?

Lake Placid Pics

This is the view from my sister's deck. Hole #10 on the Lake Placid Golf course. Waking up first thing in the morning and looking out the widow at this is AMAZING!!





This was a HUGE flower on the golf course...it's bigger then my head. And we all know I have a big head!
Home sweet home.........
Tiny dog meets horse. Upon walking the Jackrabbit Trail with my sister and Mister (Bernese mountain dog), we ran into this tiny little guy (min pin). He stole my heart away. All 7 pounds of him. You all know how much I love little dogs. Ang, I'm a little dog person! My sister, me, Cate.....all ready to go kayaking! I think we belong in an LL Bean catalog?

Yes...I was out on the water. Yes...I loved every second of it. Yes...I wanted to ask if I could wear two life jackets (for those of you who don't know...I CAN'T SWIM! I sink too. Even WITH life jackets on.) And NO......I WAS NOT SCARED!!!!
PRETTY!!!!!!
Awww....I want one!!!

Team Satey Conquers Lake Placid!!!

Story and more pics coming soon.....

Aww see Mount Marcy and all the high peaks in the background?

Whiteface Mountain......

The official mountain of Tara....

aww look at her in the background! She's gorgeous!

Quote of the weekend:

"Cate LOOK!! They DO have a bumper sticker that says, "Part of my heart is in the Adirondacks.

No...wait.......Nevermind it says Afghanistan."

~Me

Instead of unpacking, I just spent an hour searching for jobs in Placid.....